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Board halts implementation of Transfer of Development Rights ordinance

October 17, 2013

After deferring action on the proposed text amendments to the Transfer of Development ordinance and changes to the Comprehensive Plan at it’s September meeting, on October 15, 2013, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted 3-4 against implementing and expanding Stafford’s Transfer of Development Rights ordinance. (Read the news story.)

Save Crow’s Nest supported this action to delay implementation of the TDR program because, as proposed, the ordinance and related amendments were fundamentally flawed. First, it failed to achieve the desired outcomes of protecting the rural and agricultural parts of our County, and in particular, saving all of Crow’s Nest. In fact, it failed to provide any public access to lands placed in the TDR program. Second, expansion of the program had the potential to cost taxpayers $52 million in lost proffer revenues. Finally, it would have removed what are essentially high density rezonings from the control of the Board and placed them out of sight from the public.

An analysis by Save Crow’s Nest of the impact of the TDR ordinance previously approved by the Board can be found here. During the Planning Commission meetings on the TDR, Save Crow’s Nest proposed a viable alternative to the current TDR ordinance that would have reduced the financial burden of the TDR ordinance, and created incentives for public use of some properties placed in the TDR program. That proposal sought to balance the public good with the cost to taxpayers, and did so by creating separate park and agricultural sending areas; limiting the total number of transferable development rights to 830, and for those areas currently designated as public park in the comprehensive plan, limiting the residual uses to public parks. View the presentation to the Planning Commission.